FIRST THERE WAS ONE AND THEN THERE WAS NONE

Friday's game in Staples Center was great.
Kobe had 36 points and Andrew Bynum added
17 points to lead the Lakers to a 111-99
win over the Phoenix Suns. Matt Barnes had 17
points also and Derek Fisher added another 12.
Pau Gasol had 13 rebounds and 10 points.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping attended
the game capping a 4 days visit to the U.S.
He entered the arena on a red carpet during
the second quarter and observed the proceedings
from the second tier of luxury suites above
the official scorer's table & players' benches.
Bryant scored at least 40 in each of his
previous two games against Phoenix, including
a 48-point effort on the Lakers' 99-83 win on
January 10, also in Staples Center.
That was his highest-scoring game in the
NBA when not making a 3-point shot.
And so now we start another story entirely.
Sunday's game left us scratching our heads.
"Wha happen?" The Lakers started by giving
up 63 points in the first half (18-13) with
the Suns (13-19). Then they erased a large
chunk of Phoenix's 27-point lead in the 3rd.
quarter while holding them to only 39 points
in the second half. Kobe scored 32 points,
grabbed 7 rebounds and had 5 assists.
Pau added 17 points and 12 rebounds and
Andrew Bynum had 16 points with 10 rebounds.
For some reason, coach Mike Brown stated
that "we did not come out with the mental
focus to compete defensively. It was flat
and seemed to stay that way throughout the
whole first half". Steve Blake has guided
a rejuvenation second unit since his return
from a sternum/rib injury being out for 13
games.Fisher has played a greater role while
Blake was recovering. His backups were
rookies, Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris.
Our score for Sundays game was dismal. We
just were far too lackluster and it ended
better than it began..but score was 102-90.
We have some very competitive games coming
up too so we sorely need to get on the
band wagon again. Playing at home today
against Portland and then back on the road
against Dallas with next, back to back in OKC.
These ought to be three games worthy of our
attention, certainly. We're off and running!!
Babs Wells